


Enough for Two

by lehulei



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Because Gepetto and the Blue Fairy Decided to Not Keep Lying to Their King and Queen, Emma and Snow White BOTH went through the Enchanted Wardrobe, Emma grows up with Snow White, F/M, What-If, kid!Emma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:59:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24110941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lehulei/pseuds/lehulei
Summary: What if Gepetto told Charming that the Enchanted Wardrobe was enough for two?
Relationships: Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Kudos: 10





	Enough for Two

_It was enough for two._

These are the words that run through David’s mind as he battles against each of the Evil Queen’s Black Knights, keeping Snow holding their precious daughter behind him as they make their way to the wardrobe. Gepetto confessed and while David feels for the man, he will not have his daughter go to a distant land alone.

His senses are wide alert, knowing that any mistake on his part would result in a loss too great to contemplate. His sword sings through the air, a caustic melody of metal on metal. The last Knight falls.

He turns to his wife, one hand still on his sword. This is only a brief reprieve.

Snow’s eyes are filled with tears which she refuses to let fall. His strong queen. Gently, he brings a strand of her dark hair behind her shoulder before his hand drifts down to the downy head of his small daughter. Emma. Only newly to this world and already having to leave it. His heart seizes for a moment and he has to struggle not to break down himself.

He takes a deep breath, meeting his wife’s gaze. “You need to go through the wardrobe now.” His voice is barely above a whisper, his need to keep them safe warring with his desire to keep his family with him. 

She nods, her fingers coming up to trace his lips, his cheekbone, his brow, memorizing. He knows the pain in her eyes is reflected in his own. _Twenty-eight years_ , _it’s only twenty-eight years_ , he adds to the words beating within his heart.

He bends to touch his nose to his daughter’s warm skin. The little one’s eyes open, a hazy blue for the moment, focusing on him and a shot of pure joy runs through him, shocking him in its intensity. A smile forms on his face, unable to help himself. The baby’s mouth smacks before her eyes close and she burrows into her mother’s warmth.

Snow touches his face, bringing him up to meet her kiss. It’s soft and sad and loving and far too short. She pulls away and he watches as she settles into the tree, keeping the baby close to her. Her eyes meet his.

“I love you,” he tells her and she mouths it back as the tears she held back start to drop. “I love you,” he repeats, “and I will find you. Whether if it’s twenty-eight years or I find a way to keep you safe sooner—I _will_ find you.”

He’s closing the door when Snow gasps sharply just as David feels a stab under his ribs, his back seizing up as the sword slides back out. His hand spasms, but he has enough presence of mind to use his last strength to swing the door shut and key in the lock before he collapses before the portal. The Black Knight lets him fall, moving over his body to get to the enchanted wardrobe. David can’t turn his head, his life slipping between his fingers, his breath coming out in stuttering exhales, as he watches an ominous purple smoke sweep over the marbled floor, creeping closer to where he lays. 

“It’s empty!” the Knight calls back to another pair of black boots that David can see just on the edge of his periphery. 

He smiles just as he falls into unconsciousness.

Snow tumbles out of the tree portal, gasping, tears running down her face. The baby starts crying, either sensing her mother’s distress or just upset about the turmoil in general. She can’t get out of her mind the last image of her husband, of her Charming, with a sword through his back, blue eyes wide in surprise and pain before the door shut and a fine varied-colored mist covered her vision.

She collapses on the forest floor, not aware of her surroundings as she gasps out sobs. Did she just leave him to die? Is the pain in her chest because her other half is no longer living? These are the thoughts that run through her mind, torturing herself and prolonging her tears.

Eventually, the cries of her baby pierce through the grief and she sits up, bringing Emma’s face close to hers, pressing softly against the child, rocking her against her body. Snow finds herself inexplicably comforted while the child herself continues to cry. She realizes that the baby is also likely hungry and makes quick work of feeding her, finger tracing upon the sweet face as Emma latches on. 

While the baby nurses, Snow sits back against the tree she found herself next to and takes stock of her surroundings, the side of her who’d lived in the woods the majority of her life taking over. 

The only thing she knows is that the enchantment was supposed to take her to the land of no magic. Initially, it looks like she’s in just another land within her realm: the fading sunlight, the tall trees, the ground beneath her fallen leaves, the smell of the earth all familiar. However, upon closer inspection, she sees paper detritus hidden amongst the mulch, she can smell the cooking of meat and some sort of alchemistic smell mixed in and, with the stillness that now surrounds her and her daughter who quietly finishes and snuffles herself to sleep, she can hear what she supposes is music: string instruments with sharp overtones.

At least she’s been in this position before, alone and having only herself to rely on. Though there are some major differences, she thinks as she adjusts her sleeping child to her other arm. She gingerly stands up, the urgency that had pushed her through the past few hours starting to fade, and her body’s condition starting to make itself known. She’s starting to feel weak. She needs to find out where she is and her best chance will likely be whoever is cooking.

Determined, she grits her teeth against the pain and exhaustion, slowly making her way in the direction of the music, resting against trees along what is now clear is a path, worn away with years of traveling footsteps. The forest starts to thin out and she can make out the back of a wooden building. She shivers as the slight chill in the air starts to get to her. She tucks Granny’s blanket closer around Emma.

As she steps into the clearing and cautiously approaches the building, she can make out that strange music and smell the cooking meat better. Her ears pick up an odd rumbling sound that she can’t match with anything. As she rounds the corner, her eyes widen as she takes in the sight of armored and glass carriages parked haphazardly in the small clearing. She can hear indistinct voices and as her head turns, she again is taken aback by the unfamiliarity of it all. There is glass set in the walls and maybe about a dozen people sitting at various tables and at the counter running along one side. They’re obviously in a dining establishment as all have some sort of meal in front of them. These people are dressed in strange clothes, like peasants but with the colors of the noble class. 

She catches sight of her own image in the glass and covers her mouth in astonishment. She looks like she’s been through a battle (which in hindsight is accurate). Her dark hair falls disheveled around her shoulders, her white nightgown stained with dirt and blood, her face also has blood but when she touches it, it’s not from any injury. Her mind flashes back to when David gently pushed a lock of hair off her face and it all comes back to her – the birth, the panic at out running Regina’s curse, the fighting, the knowledge she would be separated from David for however long, the sword through his back – and she finds she cannot hold herself up anymore, her legs collapsing beneath her as she curls around her child.

A door bangs open. “Ma’am?” calls a young woman’s voice. Snow cannot answer, her mind replaying the last few hours of her life before her as she tries desperately to get in one breath, but she can’t. She can’t breathe and her daughter is crying and she _can’t. breathe_.

A gentle hand falls on her shoulder and she looks up into the kind and worried face of a stranger. “Please—“ Snow gasps out, before her eyes roll back and she only knows that her baby is taken out of her arms and she tries to fight and she knows no more.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. So. Excitement on a personal level - I'm writing again!  
> 2\. I know that early in their relationship Snow refers to David as James but it's weird to me as his name is DAVID.  
> 3\. This will honestly not be more than 4-5 chapters unless something else changes (you know how characters can get).  
> 4\. Thank you for joining me!  
> 5\. (Also sorry that I ended with both main characters fainting. Reasons.)


End file.
